According to a few different pages, local blackened doom metal band Woods of Ypres have parted ways with bassist Shane Madden & drummer Evan Madden. Postings on a topic on Woods of Ypres' forum and Evan Madden's personal Twitter account seem to confirm the surprising news. I won't quote anything that Evan said online to try to avoid the negative feelings expressed (and to remain impartial; we only have one side of the story here), but let's just say that the split doesn't sound amicable. I haven't heard a concrete reason from any source for the Madden brothers' apparent departure, but from past experience, I imagine Woods of Ypres won't acknowledge lineup changes until new members are found. If true, this news is really surprising, as the band's current lineup seemed stable & successful! Evan had been Woods of Ypres' drummer since frontman David Gold's return from South Korea in 2008, while his brother Shane replaced Steve Furgiuele as their bassist before their summer 2009 tour run. Both Madden brothers were featured on "Woods IV: The Green Album" & the "Woods 4.5" sessions that led to the "Home" vinyl release this spring.I won't pass judgement on anyone connected to the band over the split, as again, I don't know both sides of the story. It's unfortunate to see Evan and Shane leave, but they do have a bunch of great bands in Philadelphia to focus on too, like The Green Evening Requiem, so hopefully they have lots of music in store for us metalheads! As for Woods of Ypres, hopefully they'll be back soon as well, and though the split is disappointing, I know David & Joel will be sure to have some great stuff up their sleeve for "Woods V" and beyond! I'll keep you guys posted!
Next up, here's some new updates from Rock 101, our local FM rock radio station! I'm sure I'm not the only one who's had this problem, but one of my qualms with Rock 101 over the years was the lack of a formal request line. Only The Hair Scare ever seemed to have regular song requests from listeners (if I can remember correctly.) Well now, Rock 101 has an official toll free request/contest line where you can call in to ask for certain songs and enter contests! The number is 1-855-876-2536 (or 1-855-8-ROCK-FM), and can be used FOR FREE on both sides of the border! You can use this number to call in for any occasion where the Rock 101 crew asks for callers, like during contests, request hours, and so forth. This appears to be a relatively recent addition to the station, and gets prime placement on Rock 101's website too, so take advantage of their new toll free number and get calling for whatever interests you at The Sault's Rock Station at 101.3 FM!
We'll close this post with new videos, and firstly, here's some new solo material from local guitarist Mike Cliffe! Mike has posted two new songs on his Reverbnation page, so here's what you should know! One is called "Shut The Front Door", which mixes a low volume hard rock instrumental with experimental talkbox-like effects to create an interesting little song that should wet the appetite of Mike Cliffe fans who've missed heavier original songs! The other new song is entitled "Rainy Day Romp", which is a shorter track but very heavy, using some slightly distorted riffing and a slow building pace to show off Mike at his rocking best! Very solid 2:20 of hard rocking there, but both of his new songs are worth checking out, so do so at the above links! Mike has also uploaded "Rainy Day Romp" onto his YouTube channel just yesterday, accompanied by a "raining fire" visualization of some type, which fits the song pretty well (typo in the title aside), so check out his video for "Rainy Day Romp" below, and get lots more from Mike Cliffe's solo project at the pages linked above!
And finally, here's this week's classic video! With Lion Ride back in town on Saturday, you may have expected this week's video to be of them again, but actually, we're gonna look at frontman Mikey Hawdon & guitarist Mark Rand's old band Detroit once again! During their 2008-2010 run (also featuring former bandmate & Maximum RNR frontman Brenton Ellis and his The Labour Of... bandmate Curtis Faux), Detroit tore up local and Toronto-area stages with their trademark short and brutal originals, and many of these shows took place at Toronto's famed Bovine Sex Club. A common sight there is area promoters' The Pink & Black Attack's Tuesday night concerts, and Detroit were part of a bunch during their active period. This video comes from one circa January 2010 (unsure of the exact date) in what may have been their last show before they went inactive! It's of Detroit playing their original song "Shithouse Ratt" from their original "Let The Hammers Fly" demo, and it's of pretty good quality! Trademark Detroit sound, and though the colour contrast makes Brenton yellow closer to the stage, it's well shot with a good camera!This video was shot by attendee Misad Justdna Venture, who uploaded the video to her personal Facebook page not long after the show. The original video can be seen at http://facebook.com/video/video.php?v=236702511915 and I mean NO HARM with this upload! It's one of the very few Detroit videos not on YouTube, and it deserves a wider audience! NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!! With that said, check out Detroit playing "Shithouse Ratt" at one of their last concerts below, and for more Pink & Black Tuesday sets from Detroit from mid-2009, head to this link, click "Uploads", and search for "Detroit"!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for concert previews for shows taking place tomorrow-Saturday in our next post! Shows on Monday will likely be profiled Sunday night. Stay tuned, and remember, our 4th anniversary is in FIVE DAYS!!!
Shithouse Ratt is on Let The Hammers Fly, yo!
ReplyDeleteThanks man, I haven't heard that album in months, I need to get back to that one sooner or later! Maybe a review of it soon would help!
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